Wing Will Jordan scored a hattrick to become the All Blacks’ all-time leading tryscorer, as the hosts outclassed Italy 47-17 in front of a sold out crowd in Wellington.
Italy were rank outsiders to win, but they didn’t appear to get the memo in the early stages and took it to the All Blacks.
A missed tackle from New Zealand midfielder Billy Proctor allowed the visitors to make a break and they took full advantage to score the first try of the match to centre Tommaso Menoncello. The conversion was successful to give Italy a 7-0 lead after five minutes.
That fired the All Blacks up and the hosts were the next to score, with lock Sam Darry barging over from close range, after a sustained period of attack. First-five Ruben Love nailed the extra two points to level the score at 7-7.
Sam Darry on the charge for the All Blacks.
Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
Italy weren’t cowed and earned a penalty inside the All Blacks 22, which they kicked to take a three-point lead midway through the first half.
The All Blacks had some good phases, but basic errors were again letting them down and robbing them of momentum, as Italy continued to apply pressure when they had the ball.
After a period of error-ridden play, the All Blacks struck, with wing Leroy Carter collecting a grubber kick, before passing inside to fellow wing Jordan to score.
All Blacks wing Will Jordan scores a try.
Marty Melville
The conversion was good, with the All Blacks claiming a 14-10 lead, although Carter’s match was done soon after, as the left wing left the field with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.
He was replaced by Josh Moorby, with the outside back coming off the bench to make his test debut on his 28th birthday.
There would be no further tries in the first half, with the All Blacks leading 14-10 at halftime.
The All Blacks’ other uncapped player, Blues loose forward Anton Segner, made his debut in the second half, replacing openside Luke Jacobson at the break. Segner is the first German to play for the All Blacks.
New Zealand were the first to score in the second half, with Moorby making a nice break, before passing to halfback Cam Roigard, who sidestepped the last defender to dot down next to the posts. Love made no mistake with the conversion to extend the All Blacks advantage to 21-10.
Cam Roigard celebrates his try with Ruben Love.
Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
The hosts then began to control the tempo of the match and Moorby went close to scoring his first test try, before prop Ethan de Groot barrelled over for an unconverted five-pointer to put the All Blacks ahead 26-10.
The All Blacks were gaining ascendancy and would soon score again, with Jordan bagging his second try of the night to take his tally to 49 test tries, level with Doug Howlett at the top of the all-time All Blacks tryscoring list.
Just minutes later, Jordan broke the record, scoring his hattrick against Italy to bring up his 50th test try and send the more than 33,000 fans into wild celebrations. The conversion was good from Love, with the All Blacks leading 40-10 with 15 minutes remaining.
Jordie Barrett and Will Jordan of the All Blacks celebrate Jordan’s try.
Kerry Marshall / www.photosport.nz
Italy had lock Niccolò Cannone sent off for a headbutt at the ruck, before Jordan’s record try, but with a player red-carded, the visitors claimed the next try, with replacement Leonardo Marin scoring in the right corner to cut the hosts’ lead to 40-17.
Love was then yellow-carded for a professional foul with 10 minutes to go, before the TMO overturned the call and he was returned to the field.
The All Blacks scored after the fulltime siren, with lock Tupou Vaa’i barging over to help the hosts seal a 47-17 victory and make it two wins from two games under new coach Dave Rennie.
The All Blacks next play Ireland at Eden Park next weekend.
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